Idea Lab

OpenCourt: When Is Intent a Criminal Act?

by Joe Spurr
2010 Knight News Challenge Winner

Traditional media organizations cover big cases, and they do it well. Part of what's neat about streaming normal courtroom proceedings as a part of OpenCourt's efforts is being present for the interesting hearings that would otherwise fall through the cracks. For instance, in a scene about a week ago that echoed a plot line from the film "Minority Report," a local defense attorney moved that a charge against his client should be dismissed on grounds the state would essentially be criminalizing a state of mind. Both sides in the case agree the defendant, charged with attempt to commit a...

• May 15, 2012
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Massachusetts Supreme Court Rules in Favor of OpenCourt's Live Stream

by Joe Spurr
2010 Knight News Challenge Winner

The highest court in Massachusetts has just ruled in favor of OpenCourt's ability to video record, stream and archive public court proceedings online, writing that restricting rights to publish would violate First Amendment press protections. The decision arrived during Sunshine Week, a national initiative to promote a dialogue about the importance of open government and freedom of information. You can read the full decision here. Here are some excerpts from the decision: On First Amendment: We conclude that any order restricting OpenCourt's ability to publish -- by "streaming live" over the Internet, publicly archiving on the website or otherwise --...

• March 20, 2012
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OpenCourt Coaxes Out More Data with Cooperative Coverage Day

by Joe Spurr
2010 Knight News Challenge Winner

A version of this post first appeared on the OpenCourt blog. A man charged with selling drugs inside the courthouse. A woman said to have shoplifted $5 worth of barbeque chicken wings. A man charged with multiple counts of raping a child with force. A longtime Drug Court participant booted from the program for taking a non-narcotic pill (still against the rules). Everyone brought back to court owing fees or victim restitution in previously dismissed cases. A man on psychotropic medication charged with shoplifting a Stop and Shop cart full of meat and pulling a knife when confronted in the...

• January 18, 2012
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OpenCourt's Balancing Act: Redacting Sensitive Info vs. First Amendment

by Joe Spurr
2010 Knight News Challenge Winner

OpenCourt, our Knight Foundation-funded project devised to help make courts more transparent, is facing a legal challenge soon to be heard by a judge in the highest court in Massachusetts. The central issue at stake is a First Amendment question of whether the court can order a news organization to redact material that has been presented to the public in an open courtroom. On July 8, WBUR, a public radio station, filed a response memo as well as a supplemental affidavit of our executive producer to the state's Supreme Judicial Court. The documents are the latest in a lengthy legal...

• July 19, 2011
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Why Our Project (and the Country) Needs Cheap, Universal Broadband

by Joe Spurr
2010 Knight News Challenge Winner

Of all the challenges since November, when we began our Knight-funded project, hooking up the Internet was probably the least expected snag. Our project, OpenCourt (formerly Order in the Court 2.0 ), aims to modernize an old-school district courtroom and stream its proceedings live online. There was so much policy to chisel out. There was the logistical challenge to assemble the myriad of stakeholders necessary to have balanced discussions. Bottom-up site design and development. Content to produce. Community outreach. Surely any one of these would gobble more focus than a procedure typically taken for granted to be slightly more complicated...

• April 26, 2011
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